Crisis Centers Turn to Texting to Help Teens

Sometimes a call for help isn't as successful as a text for help—at least that is the thinking from several organizations offering text hotlines that aim to serve people in distress.

A few national help lines are training staff and volunteers in the art of counseling via text message or online chat. The added anonymity of digital communication means people seeking help talk more openly about experiences such as sexual abuse on chat and text than on phone lines, says Katie Ray-Jones, president of the National Dating Abuse...